It’s obvious that RedLynx stopped loving us. We were there for them, day and night, attending to playing their games. But then oh look who should stride in with their long legs and big, muscley arms but Microsoft, flashing their wallets and giant cars. And Trials really became an Xbox thing, leaving us staring at the space where RedLynx used to be, sobbing.

Oh, but who’s this crawling back to us? Microsoft’s big money and tall hats weren’t everything you hoped for, eh? You think you can just waltz back in here, play with our hearts like they’re days old treacle pudding? Yes, quite correct, because Trials Evolution is bloody brilliant.

As promised, Ubisoft have stood upon their mountain and trumpeted the news that a Gold Edition of the game will appear on the 22nd March. This is being ported by Ubisoft Shanghai, with RedLynx “supervising”. I like to assume that means they walk up and down between the desks like exam invigilators, occasionally silencing a cough, or picking up a fallen pencil.

In it will be all of Trials Evolution, and all the tracks from Trials HD in the later game’s better engine. It’s also described as being optimised for PC, including,

“All of the features of its forerunners – from the in-game editor, player sharing of tracks, and global Leader Boards, will be re-integrated into the game in a way that fits the new platform.”

You know, it was actually Kieron who made their break-out game, Trials 2 SE, get any attention at the time. THEY OWE US EVERYTHING. Literally, everything. I’m going to sue them for the lot. Meanwhile, here’s the new trailer:

Is it still the same physics ever since the PC versions? I recall finding it amusing back in the day, but far too finicky to ever put together a real run on a course of any complexity. I’m aware SOME people could do it, but it was always more like QWOP to me than a precision trials game. And this is coming from someone who has played the likes of N, Dustforce, and Trackmania at reasonably competent levels.

As someone who couldn’t get the hang of Trials 2 after giving it a go because I’d beaten every level of Trials HD and Trials Evolution bar two of HD’s “Extreme” tracks (and my GOD they are indeed extreme), I can confirm that there’s a massive leap between 2 and HD in the physics engine and how it handles.

Evo is different to HD as well – it’s stricter on small scrapes to the head and back than HD, but is more generous with weight shifts – so I’ll be interested to see how the HD levels play with it. Yes, that’s because the metric crapload of hours I’ve clocked up on the games clearly don’t seem to preclude buying it all over again just for that (and some new leaderboards to take on).